Big Day of Giving – 500,000th Visitor

The Sacramento Zoo welcomes almost 500,000 visitors each year. When we do reach this 500,000th visitor milestone, we like to let that person know… in a BIG way! On December 7, 2013, we knew this special person would arrive so Zoo Director Mary Healy, Gus the Green Tree Frog, and Julio the Blue and Gold Macaw with Sam from the Interpretive Center were ready to greet them.

Here is a special message of thanks from the 500,000th visitor:

“What we didn’t get a chance to say that morning, was how much that day meant to our family. Without going into too much detail, these past two years have been very difficult. I lost my job, Isabella was born two weeks later, and then when she was just five days old she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. She had open-heart surgery on her one month birthday. Due to her medical condition, coupled with financial issues, we haven’t been able to do many outings as a family. Going to the zoo for her birthday was a BIG deal for us. I even took on a seasonal job so we could have the funds for the trip.

We were originally supposed to go to the Zoo on December 7, but that was the weekend of the cold spell, so we postponed our trip. The morning of December 14 did not start off well. We ran into multiple delays, traffic, crowds, etc. But we were not going to allow it to dampen our spirits about celebrating Isabella’s birthday. All that being said, you can imagine how shocked we were to learn we were the 500,000th visitor. Because of the generous packet of “goodies” the Zoo gave us, we were able to have an incredibly memorable day that we will not soon forget. “Thank you” seems so small for what we feel.

We are VERY excited to use our new zoo membership, and we hope to visit again soon!

Blessings,The Hernandez Family

Every Zoo visitor is special and every visit to the Zoo is a unique experience. We had no idea that this visit to the Zoo for the Hernandez family would be such an exceptional one. Donations, large and small alike, help to keep our gates open so families like these can make memories that last a lifetime at the Sacramento Zoo.

By donating to the Sacramento Zoo on May 6th for the BIG Day of Giving, your gift will make an even bigger difference because every contribution will be matched on a prorated basis from a pool of matching funds; the more contributions to the Zoo, the higher the matching gift. This will be a great opportunity to make your donation dollars stretch!